Essays on Categorical Imperative

Most people would agree that lying to a murderer about the whereabouts of his victim to save a life is morally permissible, but Kant famously insisted that even in this case, lying is impermissible. Some cite this refusal as a failure of his moral system,...

Immanuel Kant came up with the categorical imperative when dealing with the importance of moral duty. Hypothetical imperatives did not suffice with Kant as he felt that it was better to disregard consequences of an action and focus more on the morality. He came up...

The Categorical Imperative Applied to a False Promise In the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant seeks to establish the supreme principle of morality (Kant. 392), the categorical imperative, to act as a standard to which actions can be evaluated for their moral worth....

In my opinion, the most important aspect of an ethical theory is its applicability to ‘real life’ ethical dilemmas and situations. Even beyond the obvious intellectual rigor that ethical philosophy demands, the most important test for an ethical theory must be its actual usefulness. It...

Universal Ethics philosophy states that every decision made is only acceptable if it is applied universally in similar situations. This is also known as the ‘Categorical Imperative’. According to Kant, individual moral commitments are considered categorical imperatives, and these commitments exist for a reason. The...